On Saturday 12 March 2005 02:22, Enrique wrote: > Christian Einfeldt wrote: > > Hi, > > > > It looks as if Novell is planning a big splash around OOo 2.0 > > with their next SuSE Linux release: > > > > http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,1775214,00.asp?kc=EWRSS031 > >29TX1K0000616 > > > > So next time that we get frustrated with each other let's > > remember our successes, too. Of course, we can always do > > better, and of course we want to be as flexible as possible, > > but this is some good stuff! > > Hi Christian, > This is a Great Truth. I myself have got frustrated by some > things in 2.0, as you may have read here. But only within this > community, I understand that these newsgroups are for discussing, > not only for praying OOo virtues.
+1 However, I really don't know enough about the software to make intelligent criticisms of the software. That is why I tend to be more vocal in support of OOo here. I know that sometimes I probably appear to be too much of a goody two-shoes, always trying to find something positive to say about the software. But that is primarily because I don't really understand it well enough to do anything other than just basically use it. I have expressed discontent in the past here on the list. For example, when Sam Hiser, our former marketing lead, was missing in action for a period of time, I was openly critical of Sam here on the list despite his otherwise positive contributions to the list. Louis Suarez-Potts initiated a proceeding to vote on a new lead, and I supported that effort, despite the high regard that I had and still have for Sam Hiser. My point is that I don't have much negative to say, because I don't really understand stuff enough to criticize it. On lawyer lists, for example, I do offer more sharp comments, simply because it is stuff that I understand. There is one other issue, too. I do understand much of what is discussed on this list, but I personally find most of the complaints that are made to be about stuff that *I* find to be rather trivial. (Just a personal view). I'm not critical of OOo, because, frankly it is soooo much *BETTER* than most other groups and software products that I see. For example, I never even considered the thought of being able to criticize WordPerfect, which I used before becoming an OOo user, because Corel is a very closed organization, and frankly, they didn't give a flying f___ about what their users thought, just as long as those users kept buying upgrades. Same for MS, of course. So for me, as an attorney, coming from a world where opposing counsel scratch and claw at each other all day, this place looks pretty rosy in comparison. Same for all the other products that I buy or services that I use. For example, here in San Francisco, California, our local telephone system is run by a Texas company called "SBC." Boy, are they notorious for ignoring customer complaints. If you want to have phone service, you have to wait several days, and then you have to take half of a business day off of work and sit at home to wait for them to show up. I met a guy by the name of Holden Aust in an elevator in my office building. I was complaining about my worries about viruses in Windows. He suggested that I try Linux. I said, "Where can I get Linux"? He said, "you buy the parts, I will show you how to build a box and install Linux, so that you can help others later." I was floored by that offer. It generally has been my experience that people go out of their way to help each other here on this list. Here in the US, it has been my experience that you don't get ANYTHING for free. If you want help, you have to pay for it. Most interactions in the US are about someone getting paid. I find that personally to be rather tedious, boring, and limiting, because it usually means that the wealthy get the best of everything, and the rest are left to work day in and day out for marginally useful products (Windows) that cost an arm and a leg (Microsoft Office) and when there is a problem, YOU the consumer has to pay to have it fixed. I'll never forget my first Windows problem. I thought that you would get free tech support, and I was shocked as hell to find out that you had to PAY for support for a product that you had already purchased, when CLEARLY the problem was with the product! So when you read the stuff that I write, you should look at it as if you are reading the thoughts of a man who has recently been released from jail, because I find the "pay-as-you-go" USA to be rather frustrating. Most of the products and news and entertainment in the US is dumbed down and polished to sell as many copies as possible, and so it is often bland. This bores to me tears. Another reason that I don't often criticize people or OOo releases is that someone else has often jumped on it while I am still trying to figure out if *I* have made a mistake in using it, or if it is a bug in the program. I can't tell you how many times I have called up Holden Aust with a question about using some software libre program, only to find out that the answer was right in front of my face. It's embarrassing! Sure, I have learned how to use some things, but Adam Doxtater will tell you times when I have called him up with painfully obvious questions. Things like, what is the difference between ftp and http, what is the relationship between ftp://[EMAIL PROTECTED] and http://[URL].com. I personally get VERY frustrated at the fact that computers are still quite hard for me to use, and so I am VERY grateful to this community for having helped me with some very stupid questions. So if I seem to be overly optimistic, you'll have to excuse me, because I sure as hell am not going to bitch about something that seems just fine. I'm not discouraging anyone from complaining. But I do sometimes wonder, "where's the beef" when people are complaining about things which, to me, seem trivial, especially in light of how truly fucked up the rest of the world is. And yet, the real strength of open source, IMHO, is that people CAN and DO complain very vocally about exactly what honks them off. There are often VERY caustic debates which occur on this list, which IMHO is a relief valve. Or, people go and start related projects. From my experience, the Internet routes around almost every problem you can think of. You got a problem? Do something about it. Campaign here on this list. Daniel Carrera, for example, once had an issue with a bug. He felt that his bug was not getting sufficient attention. So he sent out an email asking people to vote for his bug. I found his argument persuasive, and so I voted for his bug, and so did several other people. As far as I know, that bug got solved. Try that with Microsoft. Christian Einfeldt 415-351-1300 --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
